


Hang a Shining Star Upon the Highest Bough

by agentlukaofshield (lukadarkwater)



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: @ The Fitzsimmons Network, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Basically everything is the same but fitz came with the team to the lighthouse, Christmas, F/M, FitzSimmons Secret Santa, Fluff, Something Soft in our time of need, and Jemma didn't get taken by the Kreeper, there's too much angst in this universe
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-29
Updated: 2017-12-29
Packaged: 2019-02-23 17:00:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,609
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13194564
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lukadarkwater/pseuds/agentlukaofshield
Summary: After Jemma, Fitz, and the rest of the team get taken to the Lighthouse, Jemma tries to plan a Christmas surprise for Fitz.





	Hang a Shining Star Upon the Highest Bough

**Author's Note:**

> Merry Christmas to my Secret Santa over on Tumblr English-Fitz! I hope they enjoy this fic :)

According to Jemma’s phone, it had been nearly five months since the white monolith had sucked them through the portal and into the future. She had carefully tucked away her phone as soon as they had been assigned bunks, all too familiar with how important it could be while one was trapped in a foreign place in space, and had taken to tracking the days as they slowly slid by. 

In truth, the similarities between her first time in space and her second had threatened to overwhelm her at first. The choking panic she had felt when she had opened her eyes to see the monolith before her had frozen her whole body and, then, finding out that it had once again taken her to space had seemed like the cruelest joke the universe could have played on her. 

However, for as much as it reminded her of her time on Maveth, there were several large differences. For one, Fitz and the rest of the team were with her. When she had woken up alone, she had almost screamed, unable to bear the thought of once again facing this hell all by herself. Yet, seconds later, the door in front of her had been shoved open and Fitz had stumbled through looking dazed but still there all the same.

She had wrapped her arms tightly around him, trying to calm herself down, just as Elena appeared next to them. After that, events had moved quickly as they discovered that they were not only in space but in the future as well. Deke, one of the residents of the Lighthouse, the name of the station they were stuck on, had managed to find them jobs and bunks and slowly they had settled into life there. 

Though they were all reeling from the situation, Jemma had been most concerned about Fitz. He, out of all of them, had suffered the most in the Framework and with little to no time to process everything, she had been worried that the stress of the situation wouldn’t allow him to move forward. 

Her only solace, at first, was the fact that he didn’t protest when she had told Deke that they would be sharing a room. The scavenger hadn’t cared, too occupied with trying to find rooms for the new arrivals, but she had watched Fitz’s face anxiously. He had simply stared at her with wide eyes, as if he was shocked by her decision, but didn’t protest as Deke showed them to their new room.

As far as rooms went, Jemma supposed it wasn’t the worst thing in the world. They had a bed that, while not the most comfortable thing she’d ever slept on, had a mattress and blankets and a window that looked out over an asteroid belt. They worked long days in the processing sector before having a mostly tasteless meal in the marketplace, and then retreated to their bunks where they tried to figure out how to get back to their own time and planet. 

The first night they spent in their bunk, Fitz had insisted on sleeping on the floor but, after she had crawled down next to him, refusing to put more space in between them than necessary, he had been sleeping beside her every night. At first, he had stayed close to the edge of the mattress, refusing to touch her aside from only the most chaste and light touches. But, as time went on, their bodies started gravitating towards each other. They woke more and more frequently intertwined until Jemma finally confronted him about their relationship. 

She had assured him that, no matter what, she wanted to be with him and that she didn’t want him to keep away just because he was worried that she didn’t want him to be affectionate with her anymore. After a fair amount of crying from both sides and the promise to not pull away from each other, they had been slowly working towards healing together.

Now, months later, they had made great strides in that department and, as Jemma looked at the date back home, she realized that in less than two weeks, it would be Christmas. 

Christmas had always been her favorite holiday. Between all of the beautiful decorations, the sparkling lights, and the promise of time spent with loved ones, she looked forward to the festive season every year. 

Considering no one at the Lighthouse really knew about Christmas, she didn’t expect much in terms of celebration but, as she lay in bed next to a sleeping Fitz that morning, she quietly began formulating a plan. 

Just because no one else would be celebrating the holiday didn’t mean that she couldn’t plan a little surprise for Fitz. 

Her first stop that evening, after finishing work, was to the room of the collector, Virgil. The man who had welcomed them to the Lighthouse had, they discovered after his death, quite the collection of old Earth items. She felt a bit guilty about rummaging through his things but she comforted herself with the idea that, by taking some of it, she wasn’t going to let them be thrown out by the people who eventually took over this room. 

To her delight, she found a box shoved into a corner that contained a variety of holiday themed baubles and trinkets. Despite his lack of knowledge, Virgil clearly knew that these belonged together and had stored them as such. Jemma spent the better part of an hour deciding what would be appropriate for what she had in mind and then shuffled them down the hall to Daisy’s room. 

Since it was supposed to be a surprise for Fitz, she couldn’t very well store the things in their room and so she had enlisted Daisy’s help as part of her plan. Daisy, as she had expected, was completely on board with helping her and had agreed to store everything in her room until it was time for Jemma to put her plan into motion. 

The next step was far more tricky. The food that was available on the station left a lot to be desired. She staked out the market place for a couple of days trying to find something that looked at least somewhat edible. In the end, she managed to get some pieces of fruit that looked relatively unbruised, a loaf of bread, and some of the mush that passed for meat. To her delight, she also came across some of the sweet tasting hard candy that were a rare find on the ship.

Those too went into Daisy’s room and Jemma was feeling increasingly excited before she realized that the last part of her plan would be the hardest by far. It wouldn’t be Christmas without a present for Fitz and Jemma had absolutely no idea what she should get him. It didn’t help that she was rather limited, as the case may be, in her choices and it wasn’t as if Fitz had voiced any sort of opinion as to something that he wanted while they were sorting through space junk. 

She was so preoccupied with her task that she started to spend more time away from the others, especially Fitz, as she scoured the ship for something that he would like.

One night, a few days before Christmas, she ended up coming in later than normal to their bunk. Fitz had already changed into the nondescript black pajamas that were standard at the Lighthouse and he smiled at her from the bed as she set about getting ready to join him.

She crawled into bed and instantly went to her favorite place on his shoulder, nestling into his neck and sighing as he wrapped his arms around her shoulders.

“Jemma?,” he asked after a second, his voice sounding just worried enough that she froze where she had been relaxing into him.

“Yes, Fitz?”

“Is everything okay?”

She blinked as she pulled back slightly, so she could look at his face. “What do you mean?”

He shifted his hold on her to accommodate her new position and said “You’ve just seemed really preoccupied these last couple of days. And I wanted to make sure it wasn’t something I was doing or…”

“No!” She cut him off instantly, “No, it’s not anything you’re doing, Fitz,” she trailed her fingers across his jaw, feeling the stubble scratch against them. He’d let it grow longer since they’d been here, allowing it to be softer than she was used to but the feeling still comforted her. “I’m just - I’m trying to figure out a way to get us home. We’ve been here far too long as it is.”

He nodded, seemingly satisfied with her answer, and stretched up to kiss her softly on the forehead. When he pulled back, his eyes were warm and he ran his thumb over her shoulder in a comforting motion. 

“I know. It’s been stressful for everyone. And I miss the Earth. All of this simulated oxygen tastes pretty stale after a while. But,” he said, squeezing her shoulder softly, “we’ll get back there, I know we will.”

She smiled back at him before pressing a soft kiss to his lips and settled down against him. She lay for a few minutes, listening to the sound of Fitz’s breathing slowing as he drifted off to sleep. She had just tucked herself comfortably into his side when, all of a sudden, her eyes snapped open.

Something in Fitz’s words had sparked her imagination and, suddenly, she knew exactly what she should get him. Her mind spinning with excitement, she lay there for a while, plotting out how exactly she would get her hands on something that was so rare on the ship and it was a long time before she actually managed to fall asleep. 

She spent the next couple of days desperately trying to find what she was looking for. Being that it was something that, as far as she knew, only existed on one part of the ship, it was incredibly hard to find. However, eventually though a combination of bribes, Daisy’s meddling, and some sweet talking, she finally managed to acquire exactly what she was looking for. 

She woke up on Christmas Day to the feeling of Fitz’s breath against her neck, his arm around her waist, and anticipation stirring in her belly. She hadn’t felt this level of excitement since they had been taken to the Lighthouse and she was more than ready to have some time alone with Fitz where neither of them were worried about what the next day would bring. 

She swifty completed all of her work for that day, intent on getting back to their bunk and setting up the decorations before Fitz got back. Then, after grabbing the things from Daisy’s room, she set about decorating. 

There weren’t any outlets in their room, as far as she could tell, but she managed to at least string the lights along the walls and around the window. Then, she took the small tree and set it in the middle of the room. She had also found some tinsel in the box so she tried to drape it off of the bed, table, and chairs in an attempt to make the room look a bit less colorless. The food went onto the table, carefully arranged to look as appealing as possible, and then, for her final touch, she placed the small present for Fitz under the tree. Though there wasn’t any wrapping paper, she had managed to find a small box for it to go in and then wrapped the tinsel around it like a bow. 

She had just finished straightening the small star on the tree when the door slid open to allow Fitz to enter. 

He stopped just inside the room, the door closing behind him, as he took in the decorations.

“Jemma,” he breathed, “what is all of this?”

“Happy Christmas, Fitz,” she said, smiling at him and walking up to stand in front of him.

“Christmas….” His gaze left her face to look around the room,

“I’ve been tracking the days we’ve been here and , when I remembered that today was Christmas, I thought that I would try and do something nice. I think we both deserve it.”

Fitz’s soft blues eyes shifted to look into hers and he smiled. “So that’s why you’ve been acting so strange lately.”

With one hand, he reached for her jaw to bring her lips down to his. She hummed happily against them before pulling back and resting her forehead against his. 

“Thank you, Jemma. This is the best present I could have asked for.”

“Oh!” she exclaimed, pulling away from him, ignoring the small noise of protest he made as she did so, and walked over to the tree. “Speaking of presents, I did actually get you something.”

8Fitz blinked in surprise before reaching out to take the small box from her. 

“Jemma, you didn’t have to get me anything. Honestly, all of this is more than enough and I didn’t even know to get you anything.”

Jemma rolled her eyes, “Fitz, it’s fine. I just wanted to do something nice for you. And, besides, the present is something that I think we’ll both enjoy.”

Fitz raised an eyebrow but didn’t push it, instead bringing the box up to eye level. 

“Well go on, open it,” Jemma said, leaning forwards in excitement. 

“Alright, alright,” he said with a small smile before carefully pulling off the tensile and opening the lid of the box. 

Reaching into the box, he pulled out a small, curved container. 

Peering at the thing, he glanced up at her, “Um, thanks? You shouldn’t have?”

She tsked him, “Fitz, don’t you know what that is?”

“Well, it looks like… dirt?”

“Yes! Exactly!” she reached out and wrapped her hands around where his were holding it. “But it’s more than just dirt. Inside of that dirt is a small seed that will one day grow into a plant.”

Fitz blinked in shock, “Wait, really?”

“Yes! It’s a little Aglaonema plant. They grow well in low light which, considering our current situation, seemed like the best plan for a plant to get you.”

“Jemma,” he breathed, “How did you-?”

“I was thinking about what I should get you, after I decided to do all of this. And it wasn’t until the other night, when we talked about getting home, that I realized that that’s what you most want. A little piece of home. I know it’s not much but it’s to remind you of what’s waiting for us when we get back.”

Blinking back tears, Fitz reached out and wrapped his arms around her, careful to keep the pot upright. 

“Thank you,” he muttered into her hair, “this is wonderful.”

“No, thank you.” she muttered back, squeezing the back of his neck with her hand 

He pulled back, confusion in his eyes, “For what?”

She reached up and cupped his face in her hands, staring into the eyes she loved so much as she said, “For being here with me. For never giving up hope and for giving me mine.”

Speechless at her words, Fitz simply hugged her to him again (sitting down the plant on the table behind them) and she nestled against her favorite person in the universe as she started to hum ‘Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas’ under her breath. 

Perhaps it wasn’t the most extravagant Christmas she had ever had but, as she stood there, holding Fitz close and gazing out on the stars, Jemma knew that she wouldn’t trade this moment for anything.


End file.
